ICE defends conditions of immigrant ‘hold rooms’ in Baltimore

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U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement this week defended its treatment of immigrants at its “hold rooms” in Baltimore in response to a proposed class-action lawsuit filed in May by two immigrant women who alleged inhumane conditions.

In court filings dated June 30, the agency and assistant field office director Jose Guerrero did not deny some of the key allegations made by the two anonymous women, who sued in May and last month filed a motion for preliminary injunction.

The women alleged that the cells in the George H. Fallon Federal Building — where detainees are supposed to be held temporarily, pending deportation or transfer to a longer-term detention facility — are so overcrowded that sometimes people have to sleep sitting up. They said immigrants lack access to sanitation, privacy and legal counsel, and that the cells are cold and fully lit at night.

While the agency acknowledged the allegations, it said they weren’t actionable and the plaintiffs’ claims were moot.

“The temporary detainees at the Holding Facility are afforded humane conditions and provided basic necessities of life,” ICE, which is represented by the Justice Department, stated in its opposition to the request for an injunction.

“While Plaintiffs allege a lack of privacy or inadequate sleeping conditions, these do not amount to constitutional violations. … And, while the holding cells occasionally — but not routinely — need to accommodate ten or more people, Plaintiffs contention that this circumstance alone is tantamount to punishment and violative of Due Process is misplaced.”

ICE has attempted to ramp up arrests and deportations nationwide to meet President Donald Trump‘s goal of deporting at least a million people this year. It has faced criticism and lawsuits for deporting people without due process, for targeting people for pro-Palestine speech, and for deploying teams of armed and masked agents who do not identify themselves or produce warrants before making arrests.

In an April letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, U.S. Senators Chris Van Hollen and Angela Alsobrooks described the conditions in Baltimore as “appalling.”

Guerrero declared that detainees are given a toothbrush and toothpaste, as well as moist towelettes; they do not have access to a shower. The agency said it has “two large and two small cells,” which on average held a total of about 60-65 people in May and June. (Guerrero said there were three large cells and two small ones.)

Neither Guerrero nor the agency’s opposition to the injunction request said how big the hold rooms are. Men and women who have been detained there say they are about 12 feet by 18 feet, and 12 feet by 12 feet, according to court records.

ICE acknowledged that the toilets and sinks are not fully private — there is only a “mid-height privacy wall,” Guerrero stated. Detainees are allowed to make a phone call when they are detained and may request privacy for calls with their lawyers. ICE did not address the plaintiffs’ claim that access to counsel is limited due to the requirement that credit card information be entered before making a call, even though the call is free.

ICE is generally required to keep detainees in the hold rooms for up to about 12 hours, pending a hearing or other action, but the plaintiffs and others who filed declarations said they were detained there for more than a week. ICE noted that it issued a nationwide waiver allowing people to be detained there for three days.

It blamed the state of Maryland for preventing local detention facilities from contracting with ICE, thereby requiring it to transfer detainees out of state.

“Absent the availability of the Holding Facility,” Guerrero stated, the Baltimore Enforcement and Removal Operations division “would not be able to process individuals for detention and would be unable to effectuate any arrests as required pursuant to the Immigration and Nationality Act.”

This story has been updated.